The present invention relates to a tape recorder which has a forward/reverse switching mechanism for switching between forward travel and reverse travel at normal speed and, more particularly, to an improvement in a mechanism for moving a head into a position corresponding to a track of the tape in accordance with the forward or reverse travel of the tape at normal speed.
In tape recorders, it is known that an automatic reverse (auto-reverse) mechanism makes it possible to perform reciprocal recording and playback. By using the automatic reverse mechanism, the preset conditions of the tape recording and the tape mounting condition need not be changed when the magnetic tape reaches its end in the forward direction of the tape travel, and the tape can be recorded and played back in the reverse direction. If the operator wishes to perform recording or playback for a relatively long period of time, the automatic reverse mechanism is vey convenient.
Further, in tape recorders which have recently become commercially available, logic circuits have been abundantly used. The tape recorder of this type has a plurality of feather-touch switches which are used to set a predetermined mode of operation and the stop mode. A solenoid plunger or the like which is used as an electric/mechanical converter is controlled by a control LSI (Large Scale Integration), so that various types of movable members of the mechanism are positioned to set the predetermined mode of operation and the stop mode in accordance with a button pressed by the operator. According to the tape recorder of the above type, since the feather-touch control buttons can be adopted, soft-touch operation can be realized. Only one LSI is required to drive the solenoid plunger corresponding to the pressed control button. Thus, the compact and light-weight tape recorder of this type can be manufactured at low cost, as compared with the conventional mechanical tape recorder.
However, in the tape recorder which includes a logic circuit and has the conventional automatic reverse mechanism, the overall arrangement is still complex and does not sufficiently provide an advantage of the logic circuit. Further, the tape recorder cannot be operated with high reliability and consumes much power. Therefore, a compact tape recorder which uses dry cells as the power source cannot be provided.